THINGS you'd like to know...
Latest Senate poll survey:
* Cebu's Serge Osmeña is out of the list of those who have the statistical probability of winning, that is, as of April 10-14, the period covered by the latest Pulse Asia survey on senatorial aspirants, which was released Tuesday, April 30. He and Mar Roxas share the berths #14-17, next to the last bet in the Magic Circle: Serge getting 24.6 percent and Mar, 24.5 percent.
* Only reelectionist Bam Aquino of Otso Diretso is in the winners list, #10-14, with 28.8 percent. All the other opposition candidates are way down in the survey bottom, even outpaced by the likes of Freddie Aguilar and Jiggy Manicad.
* The wannabes whom administration critics love to hate are in: Bong Go, #4-8, 40.8 percent; Bong Revilla, #5-9, 38.1 percent; Bato de la Rosa, #5-9, 36.7 percent; Imee Marcos, #10-14, 29.6 percent; and Jinggoy Estrada, #10-14, 28.8 percent.
* Grace Poe and Nancy Villar are in a tie with 51.7 percent and 50.5 percent, respectively. Hugpong ng Pagbabago has 10 of the 12 seats in its grasp.
They've been there
Tomas Osmeña, Mike Rama and Edgar Labella had served -- Tomas and Edgar still are serving -- as mayor, vice mayor and councilor for decades. You can throw in Mary Ann de los Santos and Joy Pesquera too; they have been councilors, with their own clout as feisty women leaders in the local legislature. There were times when most of them were on the same party and thus worked together. But what had they individually and/or collectively done to solve the water crisis?
If you allocate responsibility by the power they held, Tomas and Mike must get the larger slice. And, as between them, Tomas had the lion's share of the time as chief executive.
(Tomas was mayor for 17 years and is now completing a sixth term to make a neat 20; he was congressman for three years. Mike put in two terms or six years as mayor but he had also been councilor and vice mayor for a long stretch.)
Apparently, the water problem had much less priority than the South Road Properties and their squabbles since mentor and protégés broke apart. Most other pressing problems in fact took the back seat: the ever-worsening traffic mess, urban blight and peace and order -- have they been satisfactorily dealt with?
Cebu City residents must cheer that their leaders are finally promising to have "the political will" to avoid a repetition of the actual drought most people in the city have been experiencing for more than a month now.
Voters must make a choice though between BOPK and Barug leaders: whom to entrust the job to -- Tomas and Mary Ann or Edgar and Mike.
Finger-pointing
The rivals talked at the Mega Cebu forum Monday, April 29, but separately: BOPK in the morning and Barug in the afternoon.
If it were a face-off, they wouldn't be blaming one another. But Barug candidates would probably not be able to resist pointing Mayor Osmeña "You've been there for so long as the leader, the top honcho."
Thanks to the forum format, the finger-pointing didn't happen.
'Greedy, corrupt' businessmen
But the mayor lashed at "greedy and corrupt" business persons/firms for exploiting the supply of ground water without paying or not paying enough. He even mentioned them by name; check out the video before the segment would vanish.
The "exploiters" are not limited to big business. There are individuals who dug wells without complying with regulations and they've been extracting ground water and selling it, especially during periods of drought like now.
Who enforces order in the use of ground water? Which agency in government carries the stick?
Forum participants didn't have a specific idea. It could've done better with the interviewers armed with research material to steer the discussion.
No-show Bebot
House-member wannabes Representative Raul del Mar and actor-businessman Richard Yap for the north district and Councilor Joy Pesquera for the south attended. But not Representative Bebot Abellanosa who must have been campaigning elsewhere.
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